Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Makes New $29.68 Million Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 80,170 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $29,677,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $385.10 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $402.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $414.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. New Street Research cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.84.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).